Death Magnetic?

When Hessians are confronted by your average moron, ages of musical isolation from the mainstream creates, at least for some of us - a lack of argument. Is there such a thing as a "return to forum" after years of plastic musical attribution? Regardless of Metallica, would the same be applicable for a band such as Morbid Angel. Most bands seem to lose track of their art, how many of those actually ever do breakthrough once again?

I haven't heard "Death Magnetic" but there are at least two obvious problems with it.

One is that Metallica, like other bands on that scale, is more of a phenomenon/concept/brand than simply another band, so most of the time one dislikes the album because it's Metallica or likes the album because it's Metallica, regardless of its actual merits and failures. Fans will pick it up and those who don't like the idea so much to begin with, would need a fucking phenomenal album to be convinced.

The second problem is that when "return to form" is even under discussion, it's obvious that there was something seriously wrong with the dynamics or integrity or spirit of the band and when it happens, it would be better in almost every case that the band would have quit there and the members went on to play different music that is truly relevant and interesting to them today. There are some bands like Profanatica who have been around for a very long time and away from the scene but no-one is surprised that they returned with a good album, because there was never a reason to suspect anything else.

Justin Broadrick's Godflesh had become quite boring but when he took the steps to move into another style he made more exciting music again, I mean Jesu. For normal metalheads it might seem Beherit's Holocausto never "returned to form" but I think the Suuri Shamaani album is a masterpiece.

In a context closer to Metallica, Judas Priest did "return to form" with "Painkiller" after a couple of lackluster commercial-oriented efforts. It's a very different case to Metallica's 15-20 years of utter drama and uselessness though. Iron Maiden has also produced a few strong albums after failures in between. But that's maybe because they always had good musical ideas and they can still practice some of them even if they lack the original rebellion spirit... Metallica was never "good music" as such but it had the anger and spirit back in the early days.

We live in a world of hype. We were told this CD would be a return to Metallica's older form, something I oppose (why re-do the past? people want authenticity, and ripping yourself off is not it). What you get instead is a highly advanced form of pander. They sort of do the older style, by dropping to a muffled E5 chord, but that occurs between verses and choruses of their new alternative-metal-grunge-country style. There are surface attempts at extremity (squealy, shreddy leads from kirk, a few pick-ups and breakdowns) but they know their audience, and anticipate that they're thinking slowly, so it has the pace of a heavy metal record with a few brutal downstrums. The problem with such transparency in a CD it's that it's obvious to the pand that they're pandering, and so they make half-hearted attempts which mock good talent, notably in writing melodies that harmonize well between leads and rhythm guitar. If you find yourself enjoying this album, check over your shoulder, because surely an anal rapist is what's making you smile. As with all things Metallica since 1987, the melodies are well-written but the songs are confused and go basically nowhere, so you end up with a catchy chorus in your head and then a muddle as you try to figure out where that great clarity from their first album went. Avoid this turd of a CD. You will hear it for two weeks before you figure out what a farce it is, and then out of shame, will continue to pretend to like it, just like you did with those neo-homoerotic Pantera CDs a few years back.

Just like you cannot step into the same river twice, you cannot go back to the past, personally or in style.

Metallica needed to keep growing. Death Magnetic is their alterna-country-metal with a strong dose of Ride the Lightning technique, but not spirit.

If they had the spirit, they could put it in any form, and the music would be great.

I disagree with others here. Metallica have always been a musical powerhouse writing great melodies and rhythms, better than Iron Maiden in many ways. Their problem has been casting their eye in the wrong direction because they want to be Bon Jovi.

I disagree with others here. Metallica have always been a musical powerhouse writing great melodies and rhythms, better than Iron Maiden in many ways. Their problem has been casting their eye in the wrong direction because they want to be Bon Jovi.

I agree, Metallica always had a good sense of melody and rhythm. Too bad that they wasted their ideas on songs like Nothing Else Matters. A very good rock song that is still popular for a reason but still nothing more than a rock song.

The new album has some good ideas bu as a whole it seems boring and lifeless. If you want to hear a better comeback, listen to the new Cynic instead.